It was announced earlier this weekend that Milwaukee Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will be unable to play in the EuroBasket with the Greek national team due to a knee injury.
In light of that, his sudden unavailability has become a red flag to the team given that there was no previous indication about that being the case from the latest examination of Antetokounmpo's knee, according to Demetris Nellas of the Associated Press.
Takis Tsagronis, the federation general secretary, told state TV ERT that a scan revealed no problems with Antetokounmpo's knee.
“This [the player's absence] is bad but not unexpected news. All indications were that it would end up like that,” Tsagronis said.
“We, on our side, did everything not to give the Bucks an excuse. We took a magnetic scan of Giannis' leg and it was clean. What the Bucks claim is not the reality; something else is happening.”
What makes this an even more sticky situation is that Antetokounmpo had stated that he was unable to complete his physicals because of the excessive pain that he was dealing stemming from the injury.
Greece's national team is set to play in the EuroBasket tournament that is set to begin on August 31. Giannis Antetokounmpo was on track to lead his home country but the knee issues forced him to miss all but one exhibition game. There is likely more concern from the Greek national team given that Antetokounmpo has become the captain of the group and its best player.
There could likely be more to come with this situation as the Bucks may put forth a response to the claims in the coming days.
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